The history of Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe is one of the great success stories of Irish theatre. Established in 1928, at a time when Saorstát Éireann (the Irish Free State) was struggling for legitimacy, An Taibhdhearc set out to achieve an unparallelled cultural project, a Galway-based national Irish language theatre.

Since 1990 the archive of Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe has been held in the NUI Galway Library. The library has received additions to the collection since then, and the entire collection continues to be preserved and made accessible by the Library’s archival service. Details of the administration of An Taibhdhearc are to be found in minute books, correspondence, and financial records. Information about the individuals involved in running the theatre and their sometimes fraught relationships with each other, as well as the many practical difficulties facing the company, may also be found in these documents. In addition there is material relating to each production, including correspondence, theatre programmes, posters, photographs and newspaper cuttings. The latter offer the researcher a detailed record of the plays staged, as well as audience and press reaction to the different productions. There are, in total, over 1500 items of correspondence, 500 programmes, 300 photographs and 250 posters.

 

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